For me, this domain is Lamordia. I find winter to be the best time to tell ghost stories, and for me, Lamordia is the ultimate ghost story waiting to be told. Harsh winters, a mad doctor experimenting with forbidden science, and monsters that must not be roaming the snow-covered wilderness.
It's not so much Adam that intrigues me as it is Dr. Mordenheim. I remember getting that old 2e Ravenloft Monster Compendium appendix: Children of the Night, and reading the entry on the Living Brain. That captivated me, and made me wonder what other horrors Victor Mordenheim has concocted.
--what domains fascinate and intrigue you NB
Any of the domains can be rich and interesting if you give it a lot of thought, and Souragne already has a lot going for it. From a socio-economic level, it's an island with limited civilized land--meaning constant struggle (intrigue) between the elite plantation owners, the ambitious middle class, and the abused lower (slave) class. As a dread version of New Orleans, there are plenty of "real world" ghost stories, voodoo rituals, and Mardi Gras celebrations to twist to your needs; no wonder Anne Rice loves the place. Add a dash of "Pirates of the Caribbean," and you can dredge or dream up enough material to last as long as you want, as dark or as light as you want.
Oh, and don't forget the mosquitoes. It's funny how similar malaria, meningitis, or other "swamp fever" epidemics manifest like early-stage vamiprism. And vice-versa.
But, you can't stay there forever. And if my group of outsiders thinks Souragne is a dismal place... next stop: Saragoss.
Imagine finding yourself trapped in a graveyard of ships, with no replenishable resources, and being constantly preyed upon by stranded, scurvied and desperate sailors... not to mention weird things that come up from the deeps...
It's enough to make Sithicus look like Forgotten Realms.
tryst
I like Richemulot's concept of decaying steets and abandoned architecture plus the whole intrigue.
Barovia, as clasic with the Slavic Barovians and Strahd wich I think is the Best Darklord.
It's quite a bleak place, and despite elves being the main race, its a great place for heroes to rise from nothing and become something amazing. I'm really excited to see what it's like now, that Soth isn't around and Izna is the darklord.
Invidia, Kartakas, Mordent, Falkovinia and Demenlieu in the Core (in no particular order). They all lots of small towns to play in, some cities intrigues and/or (ahem) interesting countrysides.
-Eric Gorman
Necropolis/Il Aluk comes in a close second, followed by Sebua in the Amber Wastes. ;)
Originally posted by Levinthauer
I started my campaign in Souragne, land of swamps and bad ju-ju. 14 sessions later, and the PCs still haven't left... nor figured out who the Darklord is. They probably never will.
Any of the domains can be rich and interesting if you give it a lot of thought, and Souragne already has a lot going for it. From a socio-economic level, it's an island with limited civilized land--meaning constant struggle (intrigue) between the elite plantation owners, the ambitious middle class, and the abused lower (slave) class. As a dread version of New Orleans, there are plenty of "real world" ghost stories, voodoo rituals, and Mardi Gras celebrations to twist to your needs; no wonder Anne Rice loves the place. Add a dash of "Pirates of the Caribbean," and you can dredge or dream up enough material to last as long as you want, as dark or as light as you want.
That always reminds me of "The Candyman". Especially the fact that it was all through Mardi Gras and the contrast between the party in the street and the drama in the backstage. I always feel it has a good atmosphere to try to capture somehow. Of course, it would have to be fit to the time era.
Another thing that I'm going to use in Souragne is the actual Haitian Revolution, where all the white people were killed, no prisoners done. I'll have the PCs be caught in Souragne precisely when this revolution bursts, and add some elements I read about from the Portuguese Colonial War: it's a bit extreme to describe the tortures and massacres each side did, so I'll refrain from doing it here, but I'll have them in my campaign.... A bit of gore now and then cannot possibly hurt.... I hope.
W.C.
I started my campaign in Souragne, land of swamps and bad ju-ju. 14 sessions later, and the PCs still haven't left... nor figured out who the Darklord is. They probably never will.
Souragne reminds me of that Bill Pullman movie; "Serpent Rainbow" something... Haiti, right? Souragne I think is more Haiti than Louisiana
Azalin is quite frankly one of my favorite darklords to roleplay as well; he's just scary.Close behind it, though, is Borca. There's just something that makes me smile about a country that's a combination of Borgia Italy and Boyarsky Russia.
Hida Jiremi
Originally posted by William Cairnstone
Another thing that I'm going to use in Souragne is the actual Haitian Revolution, where all the white people were killed, no prisoners done...
You don't say...? *taking notes*
Originally posted by MidwayHaven
Souragne reminds me of that Bill Pullman movie; "Serpent Rainbow" something... Haiti, right? Souragne I think is more Haiti than Louisiana
The movie you're thinking of is, "The Serpent and the rainbow."
--great movie NB
Originally posted by Levinthauer
You don't say...? *taking notes*
Guess it was in 1804. The negro slaves in the Hispaniola Islands began a revolution against the French, and from what I've heard in the Dominican Republic last month (they're neighbours), the slaves were cruel to the extreme. They say not a living white person remained alive. I'm imagining now the PCs sleeping in their houses at night and just across the street a house bursts in flames. The slaves are waiting outside and anyone they see coming they kill with their swords (could be machetes: they use them to cut the cane). Then, there's all the horrors that have been practiced in this kind of war. I've read a few details of the Negro revolution in Angola against the Portuguese. It was a war that lasted 13 years. The white people were mutilated (and as usual, women raped) and parts of their bodies were exposed outside the burnt down houses. I'm envisioning it must have been very similar to the Haitian revolution. Perhaps it's not a coincidente that many of the slaves of the Haitian side of the Island were of Bantu stock, which is the same that gave origin to the several tribes in Angola. The Angolan dialects, at least, are all of Bantu origin.
The one thing, though, that I'll stress, is that the slaves will be using voodoo magic to attack the white, also, so expect a lot of voodan zombies and special dusts around.
Hope that gives you some ideas, but you just have to research some war of white against negro people. When it comes to such a thing as basic as war, humanity doesn't differ much, and if you have roughly the same cultures, no matter where they're located, everything will proceed the same.
After all, the description of massacres I hear nowadays in Eastern Europe and Middle East (Afghanistan, Chechnya, Balkans, Romenia, etc) are almost word by word those recorded by Arab chroniclers around the Xth century about the Mongols, or the ones at the crusades, or in the times of Ancient Rome.... There's not much to differ: when it comes to war and torture, a culture will remain always the same, no matter how many centuries pass.
(Ok, this is just my opinion, it is not to be taken as a strong statement which I'll fanatically defend. Just my conclusions of what I've seen and read.)
By the way, Haitian revolution would also be great in MotRD, of course.
W.C.
I had already planted the seeds of future rebellion IMC, but overall have shied away from it for its permanent effects on the domain. There is something to be said for the quagmire of the status-quo in a place like Souragne, where "civilization" is just as stagnant as the untamed swamp around it. On the other hand, heroes love to be at the center of momentous events. Tough call.
The X-factor in the dilemma is Anton Misroi: what would he think of all this? It seems to me there was a BoS__ (or other netbook) writeup that hinted he may be amused by minor mutinies among slaves. However, I doubt he's the type who would tolerate outright insurgence... especially since when the rebellious slaves mutilate bodies they are essentially destroying his property. :sad:
EDIT: the netbook reference was "The Zanago Society", found in the Book of Sacrifices. Good stuff.
Originally posted by Levinthauer
Very cool... assuming you consider that sort of thing "cool." It certainly does say "stuck in the middle", and would give plenty of opportunities for well-meaning PCs to make things worse, depending on their actions.
I had already planted the seeds of future rebellion IMC, but overall have shied away from it for its permanent effects on the domain. There is something to be said for the quagmire of the status-quo in a place like Souragne, where "civilization" is just as stagnant as the untamed swamp around it. On the other hand, heroes love to be at the center of momentous events. Tough call.
The X-factor in the dilemma is Anton Misroi: what would he think of all this? It seems to me there was a BoS__ (or other netbook) writeup that hinted he may be amused by minor mutinies among slaves. However, I doubt he's the type who would tolerate outright insurgence... especially since when the rebellious slaves mutilate bodies they are essentially destroying his property. :sad:
I have given it a light thought. In essence, I don't think he would like it if we were to accept Stu's view of his being a plantation owner. He needs slaves. But then again, they're all zombies, so that's perhaps a moot point.
Still, I the carnage would mean a sudden surplus of bodies for whatever Misroi is planning, and if not all of them are mutilated, then a sizable number will be available for him.
I have been toying with the idea of revolution for a long time. I'm planning to alter NotWD and having a voodoo sect be the antagonists of the PCs and worshippers of Misroi as a Loa. After the PCs manage to get away with whatever they have to do (which is put out of Souragne something that must not fall on Misroi's hands) then the sect would actively support the rebellion in a last effort to try to impede them of leaving (plus, they're all white).
But I'm really not sure, yet, what would be the consequeces after Souragne became a one-people country. In my view, the Loa would gain strength because now everybody is a worshipper, I mean, there's not those foreigners that mock the religion. On the other hand, there would be space to appear a lot of people claiming power, but here Misroi could actively direct his sect to impose iron hand and claim religious as well as secular authority. That would forcibly mean the extinction of slavery (but do the core books ever mention its existence, anyway ?), but that could not be the end of Souragne. Nor even of Misroi. Does he gain anything with all of this ?
Perhaps:
- on the immediate, more zombies
- an end to the influence of foreign people and the foreign world, which he so much dislikes that has prevented until today that Souragne would join the Core. This way, he would achieve more isolationism, which is what he likes the most.
- more reverence and even more political control
Might work, but I'll worry with the details when I have to face them. Lazy-evalution, this is called
W.C.
Other than Invidia, I also love Vorostokov, it was the first place in Ravenloft I ever encountered when my (then current) DM ran Dark of the Moon and I fell in love with the Siberian Winter theme of the domain. Since then I have used the place a few times to teach players that 15th level characters, while powerful, are not invulnerable to everything ;)